Probable cause found to charge two in $4.3M ‘ice’ case

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has found probable cause to charge Yuliu Liu and Zhenlin Fang with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance over the seizure of over 10,700 grams of methamphetamine or “ice” worth about $3.2 million to $4.3 million.

At a preliminary hearing on Friday, Manglona also granted the request of the defendants’ lawyer for more time, resetting the detention hearing for Aug. 14 at 9am.

Liu, 36, and Fang, 24, were remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service after the hearing.

Manglona said the evidence presented indicates that Customs inspectors detected that an air-compressor from a shipment contained about over 23 lbs or 10 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Manglona said the evidence presented showed that Li and Fang went to the Sunleader warehouse to retrieve the air-compressor.

Although the shipping documents indicate that the air-compressor was consigned to neither of the two suspects, that individual apparently does not even exist or was not investigated, she said.

Manglona noted that Fang has no job but was found driving a Lexus car and was in possession of a receipt for the purchase of Ziploc bags.

Manglona said that authorities subsequently found 130 grams of “ice” at Liu’s house in Chalan Piao.

At the hearing, Assistant U.S. attorney Garth Backe called to the witness stand Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force officer Raymond Renguul and Department of Homeland Security- Homeland Security Investigations special agent Mike Lansangan.

Renguul basically testified how a Customs inspector detected the “ice” in an air compressor in a container from Guangzhou, China, at the seaport warehouse last July 17 that led federal and local authorities to make a follow-up investigation that led to the arrest of the two suspects last July 22.

Renguul said they replaced the “ice” with sugar in the air-compressor during their surveillance operation.

Renguul said about 15 officers, all with drawn guns, stopped the defendants’ Nissan Quest van and arrested them.

With a street value of $300 to $400 a gram, the 10,747 grams of “ice” involved were worth $3,224,100 to $4,298,800, Saipan Tribune learned.

Lansangan said it was he who checked the identity of the defendants and their immigration status.

Lansangan said Fang entered Saipan on conditional parole on March 22, 2013, and that he is already subject for removal.

Liu, meanwhile, entered Saipan on conditional parole on June 25, 2014, and was interviewed by Homeland Security in October 2014 as he was already out of status, Lansangan said.

He said that during the expedited proceedings last Oct. 21, Liu was ordered to return the following day but he failed to do so. Lansangan said Liu is now classified as a fugitive from immigration.

Attorney Steven Pixley, court-appointed counsel for Fang, argued that Fang’s name was not in the shipment’s documents and that no drugs were found in the search of his house in Upper Navy Hill.

Attorney Benjamin Petersburg, court-appointed counsel for Liu, also argue that his client’s name was not in the shipment’s documents and that he was not aware of what was inside the air-compressor.